One Day Raises £635K For CL

22nd November 2018

On Thursday 27th September, in Blood Cancer Awareness Month, Deutsche Bank employees across the UK were invited to donate a day’s salary to its two UK Charities of the Year through the bank’s ‘One Day’ initiative. The day was a huge success with a record £1.27m raised with Cure Leukaemia receiving a staggering £635,000 in total.

Former England, Crystal Palace and Wolves footballer, blood cancer survivor and Cure Leukaemia Patron Geoff Thomas, who invited his former teammate Gareth Southgate to take part in the day, said:

“This was a very special day and you could feel the warmth and generosity from Deutsche Bank’s staff as we were walking the floors and what an amazing result!

“I was so grateful to Gareth for finding time in his busy diary to meet the staff and do a fascinating talk in Winchester House and I am sure his attendance, along with that of beneficiaries of the charities and other celebrities played a big part in the success of One Day.”

The record £1.27m raised is £220,000 more than any previous year at Deutsche Bank. Feedback from Deutsche Bank’s staff highlighted a new digital tool which helped give clarity to the donation process and the impact an individual could have as a key reason for an upturn in fundraising this year, as well as the bank’s matching of all employee contributions.

Volunteers and celebrities who took part in the day

Cure Leukaemia’s Chief Executive James McLaughlin said:

“One Day was an extraordinary initiative and we are overwhelmed by the generous and selfless support of Deutsche Bank’s staff.

We always knew that this partnership would be transformational and clearly emphasises the positive impact Deutsche Bank is having in the global fight against blood cancer.

This single day of fundraising is £100,000 more than Cure Leukaemia raised in an entire year back in 2012 which highlights how far this charity has come in the last six years.”

For Cure Leukaemia, the funds raised will help finance a pioneering Therapy Acceleration Laboratory at the University of Oxford which will drive the development of new personalised blood cancer therapies.

This new facility, led by Professor Paresh Vyas at the MRC Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine in Oxford, will apply the very latest scientific and computational analysis to blood cancer samples collected from patients treated through the national clinical trials network led by the Centre for Clinical Haematology at Birmingham’s Queen Elizabeth Hospital. Read more about this project HERE.

Professor Vyas, Director of the Oxford Centre for Haematology, said:

“This is a truly phenomenal example of philanthropy from the staff at Deutsche Bank and on behalf of all the blood cancer patients who will benefit as a result, now and in the future I would like to thank every person who donated.

“In ten years, the treatment of blood cancer could be unrecognisable to today but that will only happen through investment of this kind. What a legacy this could be for Deutsche Bank to have been the catalyst for the revolution in the treatment of blood cancer.”

Nicole Lovett, Head of Corporate Social Responsibility UK says:

“This year, we saw a 31% increase in employees taking part in the campaign, which highlights their true commitment to supporting the bank’s Charities of the Year.

The aim of our programme is to create transformational change for the small charities we work with and these donations will do just that. We look forward to seeing the impact our contributions have.”

Watch a video explaining more about the project at the University of Oxford below: